Unrest at Wittenberg – What Does This Mean?

When the forces of the Elector of Saxony whisked Martin Luther away to the Wartburg Castle for safe keeping, the public assumed Luther had been assassinated. Albrecht Dürer wrote in his diary: “O God, if Luther is dead, who now will teach us the holy Gospel so clearly? Dear God, what would he still have been able to write in ten or twenty years! O all you pious Christians, help me earnestly to mourn this divinely inspired man, and pray that God would send us another enlightened man.” (Martin Brecht, Martin Luther 2:473). As word got out that he was safe, Europe began to become unsettled even further.

Even though the Edict of Worms had made Luther and his friends outlaws, the allies of the papacy soon discovered it was not enforceable. Emperor Charles V and his Spanish forces were at war with France. He also faced several revolts which needed to be put down. Sweden and Denmark were also fighting over Swedish independence. Suleiman the Magnificent began to lead his Ottoman Turk forces against Christian Europe, capturing Belgrade. Unrest began to ripple throughout northern Europe as people who agreed with Luther began to protest conditions, sometimes violently.

In Wittenberg, Luther’s friends Philipp Melanchthon and Nikolaus Von Amsdorf were joined by Justus Jonas. Together they tried to steer the town and University through the tricky task of applying the teachings of the Reformation without crushing the faith of everyday people. Luther proposed to the Wittenberg Town Council that Melanchthon be licensed to preach in his place, even though he was a married layman. Everyone agreed but the All Saints’ Foundation, which scheduled the preachers, refused. Another professor at the University, Andreas Karlstadt, initially an ally of Luther, began to urge immediate reformation of practices in Wittenberg and soon came into conflict with Luther and his friends.

In the fall of 1521, public agitation against private masses, distributing the Lord’s Supper in one kind and other practices Luther had criticized began to grow. The Elector forbid such changes for the time being, but in some cases, he was ignored. Luther decided in the beginning of December he had to see for himself what was going on.

Without notifying the court, dressed as a knight accompanied by a servant, he traveled to Wittenberg, where he stayed with Philipp Melanchthon. He met with his friends, sent a letter to Spalatin and then returned to the Wartburg, determined to write a tract against the unrest.